Hello
Fellow Stargazers, and ATM'ers! ...and Welcome to the web pages
covering the construction of the my telescope, the VSC's "SAO 10" f/5.6
'Gary Barabino' Fork Mounted
Newtonian Reflector". The inspiration to build this instrument
goes all the way back to the early years of the Vega, when all I
owned was a small department store telescope - a Jason/ Empire Model
280 Constellation 60mm f/12 Alt-Azimuth refractor. Now the dream has
become a reality. I thank my old friend, mentor, and colleague Gary
Barabino for showing me the ropes in the early days, and I
dedicate this scope to him.
Understanding that if I were to buy a completed
factory built scope of this magnitude, it would have cost a small
fortune. It has always been the philosophy of the VSC to offset
the high cost of manufactured components by building them
ourselves. I remember back in the early 1970's when Gary Barabino
and I would construct our own accessories, such as equatorial
mounts, star diagonals,
solar viewing apparatuses, and light reducing diaphragms. We even
designed and constructed an extension tube to help in reducing dew
and stray light for our telescopes, which we called the
"Obscur-O-Tube". Now companies like "Orion Telescopes and
Binoculars" offer the same type of device. However, the cost is
much higher than constructing your own. Therefore, we hold fast to
our traditions of hand building components and astronomical
instruments that will meet, or exceed factory made specifications
at a substantially lower cost. In following suit to this
tradition, the idea to construct the SAO 10" Newtonian was
pursued. We thought we would also share our efforts with the
astronomical community beginning with the pictorial and
instructional overview depicting the construction of this fine
instrument. More projects are sure to follow. To start your
journey, please click on the photos above to take you to a
particular components' construction process. We hope everyone will
fine this information helpful in their current and future
projects.
Sincerely, Mel Dawson
..."Clear Skies, Forever!"
